Kids Again
by Skye1456
Summary: Cybertron is restored and prospering. However, after an accident, Team Prime is forced into a new mission...to return to their former selves.
1. Scavenging

**Greetings from me with yet another story. This is another something that's been sitting in my head for over a year now. Just to let you know, it ties in my other story Before, references will be made to events that occur in that story.**

**Now, please enjoy. (Oh, and spoilers for Predacons Rising in the off chance you haven't watched it yet)**

* * *

It had been nearly two months after the events of Unicron's return and defeat.

Team Prime was leading the reconstruction effort to Cybertron as its citizens began to return, and new life began to spring from the Well.

On this particular day, the Sisters Chromia and Elita One travelled to a familiar old spot.

When they reached their destination, the Sisters transformed and walked towards the ruined building.

"I can't believe it...it's been so long." Chromia muttered.

"Yeah...c'mon, let's go inside and see if there's anything in there worth salvaging." Elita said.

The two femmes walked to the large, rusted double doors. The building was massive, four floors of large rusted silver metal and white stone. Had time not worn and rusted the building so much, the walls would have been shining and the floors would have been sparkling. Due to the huge but now broken down fences one might have mistaken the building for a fortress or a building of equal importance. However, it was not. It was the ruins of the One family estate. The house where Elita One had grown up.

They pulled the doors open and walked inside. It was dark and musty.

Elita sighed as she looked around the barren space and remembered a time when it was lively.

She would be fiddling with a toy on the floor and her parents would walk up to her and smile at her, not that she would be able to see them.

"Alright. We might as well get started. I'll take the upper levels you stay down here." Chromia interrupted Elita's thoughts.

"Sounds good." Elita agreed.

The two femmes split up and began their search around the house. With the heavy damages of their war torn planet, the reconstruction efforts were on a planet wide scale and there were several scouting teams to see if there were any items left of value in the ruins of their planet. Elita and Chromia volunteered to be one of those teams.

Elita looked around the ground floor but didn't find anything. Then she went to her old room.

Like the rest of the house, it was broken down and rusted. Elita walked around the room that would have been way too small for her now, but it brung back old and happy memories.

She lifted the rubble and scraped away at the rust but found nothing. Then she looked under her old berth. Lying there, covered in an enormous amount of dust, was a bag.

She picked up the musty old thing and opened it up. There was only one thing within the bag and it was a small recording camera.

Elita gasped and smiled as she took out the small device.

Elita pressed the small on button and the camera surprisingly lit up and the hologram images popped up.

"Chromia! You won't believe what I found!" Elita exclaimed.

"What? What?" Chromia asked.

* * *

The two femmes drove back to the brand new Iacon Council Building.

With Cybertron given the chance for a fresh new start, a new council was put into place. Comprised of high ranking and wise Autobots under the watchful lead of Ultra Magnus. This new council was determined to be completely different from the previous one. They vowed to terminate the caste system and allow all Cybertronians to be born with the freedom to choose their own paths.

The other members of Team Prime were not "officially" a part of the council, but no one could deny that their opinions and insights were valued greatly. After all, serving under the Last of the Primes closely for several years was sure to teach them a thing or two...at least it should have, right?

Elita and Chromia both drove by the statue being built in front of the building. The Optimus Prime memorial. An image of Cybertron's saviour so the future generations always knew who gave them their lives and freedom.

Of course, many would have preferred to postpone the construction of it because the Prime was still with them but that was unfortunately not the case.

The news of Optimus's sacrifice hit the Autobots who had returned and the ones who saw it happen hard. They were all distraught to hear that he was gone, but overjoyed at the same time because they knew that it was him who breathed life back into Cybertron with his sacrifice.

The Sisters transformed and walked into the large space that served as the meeting place of the council. There, several members of the new council were already seated and in a heated conversation about something.

"We have to track them down and apprehend them!" The white and black Autobot commander Prowl exclaimed.

"And doing that will only make our relationship with them worse!" The Iacon noble Mirage countered.

"Prowl is right! We have to assume that they are a threat to our new society and apprehend them before they prove us right!" The eccentric Red Alert replied.

"But we are supposed to be a new society. We said that we would accept everyone, and they are no different! We should give them a chance!" The flyer, Jetfire spoke.

"Enough." Ultra Magnus spoke and the rest of the council went silent. "Thinking this over, I do believe that they should be tracked down. However, I propose that when we do, it is under a flag of truce. We will speak with them peacefully and negotiate our—and their—terms. That my final decision. Is anyone opposed?"

No one said anything against the commander.

"Then I believe that this meeting is adjourned." Magnus concluded.

The rest of the council members got up from their seats and began to file out of the room, only stopping the greet the highest ranking femme Autobots.

They walked up to Ultra Magnus who had put his servo against his helm and closed his optics. It had only been two Earth months but being head of the council was beginning to seriously stress him out. Having to juggle each of the other members opinions while still making his own in the end. Not to mention the politics of the returning citizens of both factions.

Ultra Magnus sighed.

"Are you doing okay here?" Elita spoke.

Magnus's helm shot up.

"Oh. Elita, Chromia you're back. Ahem, did you see all that?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Just the ending. What was that all about?" Chromia replied.

"The Predacons and Shockwave." Magnus answered. "No one has seen them since the Battle for the Core."

"Oh, have you discussed...him yet?" Elita wondered.

Ultra Magnus shook his helm. "No not yet. I did tell them of his proclamation but they seem to be avoiding the topic."

Elita heard Chromia huffing annoyedly and decided to quickly change the subject.

"So, where are the rest of Team Prime?" Elita asked.

"They're waiting for their human friends at the Nemesis ruins." Magnus replied.

That was right. The Autobots of Team Prime had organized for their human friends to visit them on Cybertron.

"Did you find anything during your salvaging mission?" Magnus asked.

"Nothing of value to the Autobots but something of a personal sentimental value to me. It was my old house that we looked in after all." Elita answered.

"Oh, well then I am happy for you." Magnus replied.

Elita smiled and nodded. "Hm, I think we should go meet the humans. What do you say Chromia?"

"Yeah, sure." Chromia replied.

The two femmes waved goodbye to the head of the council and turned to transform and drive to the Nemesis by the Well of Allsparks.

* * *

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	2. On Cybertron

The Spacebridge opened up and Team Prime waited for their human friends to come through.

"Oh man. It's felt like forever! I can't wait to see them!" Bulkhead exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, I can't wait for Jack to see Cybertron as it should be. Shining, alive, and prospering." Arcee agreed.

"Oh yeah, and I plan on showing Raf a real race track." Bumblebee said.

"I plan on showing Miko a real Cybertronian lob ball." Wheeljack added.

"You guys think Jack would wanna see an Energon café?" Smokescreen wondered aloud.

His teammates turned to look at him with looks of pure curiosity. Smokescreen shrugged.

"What? He works at a fast food joint on earth, I was just wondering if he'd wanna see our version." Smokescreen explained.

Team Prime nodded at the young Elite Guard member unsurely before turning back towards the Spacebridge.

They waited for a few more moments before four small figures came walking out of the Spacebridge.

It was Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Rafael Esquivel. They walked onto Cybertronian grounds wearing state of the art Earth based space suits.

When she came through, Miko immediately ran towards Bulkhead and Wheeljack.

"Bulkhead! Wheeljack!" Miko exclaimed.

She hugged Bulkhead's pede before turning to hug Wheeljack's.

"Hey Arcee." Jack greeted. "Been a while."

"Hi Bee! You doing okay?" Raf asked.

"Hey everybody! It's so good to see you!" Bumblebee spoke.

"I know! It's been for-EVER!" Miko agreed excitedly.

"Say, where are Agent Fowler and Mrs. Darby?" Smokescreen asked.

"Oh, Fowler had to stay back to watch Unit E. There's been a whole lot of stuff going on there ever since the Cons were defeated. My mom stayed back to...ahem...keep him company." Jack answered.

Arcee smirked and nodded at the information.

"Wow...just, wow." Jack said as he walked forward and into the light of the Cybertronian sun.

His fellow humans followed suit and stared in awe of the sight.

It was New Iacon. While most of the skyscrapers were still damaged and in ruins, no one could deny their beauty with the rising sun coming up behind them. The buildings shone and glittered, it looked as though they were tall jewels.

"It's so much different from the last time we came here." Jack commented.

"Yup. This is how I wanted you to see Cybertron, in all of it's glory." Arcee told him.

"This place is awesome. Hey, does the city have people living in it yet?" Miko spoke.

"Yeah actually. Refugees have been coming back to Cyberton from all over the place. Not to mention all of the new lives that sprung from the Well." Bulkhead replied.

"Oh yeah? Anyone you guys know?" Miko asked.

"Tons." Wheeljack answered. "Oh, that reminds me! Miko, there are a couple of other Wreckers who've come back! Bulk and I wanna introduce you to!"

"Really? Awesome!" Miko exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Wheeljack and Bulkhead agreed.

"Why hello there everyone." Elita greeted as she and Chromia drove up towards them.

"Chromia! Elita! Hey!" Miko greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey there kids. How are you all?" Chromia asked.

"Pretty good. Life has become awfully boring without you guys there." Jack said.

"Hmm. But don't you think that's better than running around from the Decepticons?" Arcee replied.

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. Comparing normal teenage human activities to hanging out with you guys...there isn't much comparison."

"Yeah. Which is why we should stop yapping and get going!" Miko added. "So let's go yo!"

The humans got into their guardians's alt. modes and they drove into the now bustling city.

The kids looked out of their guardian's windows to take in all of the shining and glittering scenery.

"Wow. It's even more impressive up close." Jack commented.

"Yeah...I just wish Optimus was here to see it." Arcee replied.

Jack sighed and sat back down more calmly on Arcee.

"Yeah. At least he went out doing what he does best right?" Jack replied.

"Heh. Yeah I guess you're right." Arcee agreed.

"So where're we going?" Raf wondered.

"To the new council building." Bumblebee answered. "We have to check in with Magnus."

"Oh, why?" Raf asked.

"The council has to be told when anyone wishes to venture outside of the city. Beyond Iacon, Cybertron is still a barren wasteland that has yet to be rebuilt. We have to have the council's permission to go beyond that barrier." Bumblebee explained.

"Is that so? Then where do you plan on taking us?" Fowler asked.

"You'll see." Wheeljack answered cryptically.

So they continued on with their drive to the new council building. They passed by the Optimus Prime memorial statue on their way in.

"Wow. Just when I thought he couldn't get any bigger." Miko muttered as they passed it.

When they were in the foyer, the Autobots let the humans out and then transformed.

"C'mon." Chromia spoke.

The humans followed the Autobots through the wide and tall halls.

"So, Ultra Magnus is the head of the council now huh?" Miko spoke.

Bulkhead nodded. "Yeah, he brought together the rest of the new council personally as well."

"Who are they?" Jack wondered.

Before anyone could answer him, Prowl came walking by the group.

"And what might these small creatures be?" Prowl wondered aloud.

"Oh, hello Commander Prowl." Smokescreen greeted the older Bot. "Guys, this is another high ranking Autobot lieutenant. Prowl. Prowl, these are the humans we talked about from the planet Earth."

Prowl nodded. "Greetings humans. I do hope you enjoy your time here on Cybertron."

The children nodded as he continued walking.

"Not much for talking is he?" Miko commented.

"Not everyone is you Miko." Jack retorted.

Miko shoved him aside as she strutted past him.

"Sheesh." Jack grunted.

It wasn't long before the group met with the next councilman. Red Alert.

"Oh hey Red Alert." Arcee greeted the red and white mech.

"Hello everyone, I hope that the rebuilding of Iacon is going we-what in the holy name of Primus are those?" Red Alert replied glaring down at the humans.

"Er, the humans we told you about Red. The humans we told you were coming." Arcee continued.

Red Alert shook his helm. "Okay but I never imagined that they would be so...be so...insect like."

"Red Alert!" Bumblebee exclaimed. "How could you say that?"

"Well, look at them! Alien life forms bring all of their unknown bacterias and germs and mystery particles when not undergoing the proper sanitation procedures, not to mention if they are to be crushed underfoot-"

"Red, calm down. They won't damage anything." Bumblebee assured the frantic mech.

Red Alert stared at Bumblebee and then turned back towards the humans. He huffed angrily and stormed past the group.

"Woah. What was that all about?" Jack asked.

"That was councilman Red Alert. He's a bit...paranoid." Bumblebee answered.

"A bit?" Raf snorted.

"Yeah. He was the Autobot head of Security during the war. Er, the stress of it might've did a bit to his processor." Elita explained.

"Okay." Raf said.

The group continued on their walk until they reached the main council meeting where Ultra Magnus was sitting with Jetfire.

"Magnus. Jetfire." Elita greeted.

"Oh. Elita, hello." Jetfire replied.

"Welcome back everyone. I trust that the humans made it here safely?" Magnus added.

"Yeah we're here Magnus!" Miko exclaimed happily as she ran forward.

"Oh my." Jetfire spoke. "So these are humans hm?"

"Yeah, uh, hi." Jack greeted.

"Indeed. Children, meet councilman Jetfire." Ultra Magnus said. "Jetfire, these are some of the humans

"Hi." Raf greeted.

"Hey!" Miko added.

"During the war, Jetfire was the commander of the Autobot's air force units." Arcee explained.

"Heh, yes well, now I'm working to rebuild Cybertron to its former glory." Jetfire replied.

Ultra Magnus put his servo on his comrade's shoulder.

"As we all are Jetfire. Now, I am assuming that you all are here for permission to leave the city." Ultra Magnus spoke.

The Autobots of Team Prime nodded.

"Hm, very well then. Just be careful, and don't travel too far into the Predacon's territory." Magnus warned.

Wheeljack gave the commander a casual salute.

"Will do chief. C'mon guys." Wheeljack said happily.

* * *

"Are you gonna tell us where we're going yet?" Miko asked.

"Nope. You're just gonna have to wait and see." Bulkhead replied.

Miko groaned disappointedly as she sank back into her seat.

"Don't worry. You guys are gonna love this." Arcee assured them.

They drove through the big city and saw many Cybertronians going about their everyday things, but they also saw many younglings.

"Are they all the lives that sprung from the Well?" Raf wondered.

"No, but most. They're put into groups and given mentors in many of the senior Autobots." Bumblebee explained.

"Hmm." Raf muttered as they passed by one group playing by an Energon fountain.

"They look happy." Raf commented.

"We're all happy, Raf." Bumblebee replied. "We're home."

With that, Team Prime passed the city borders and went out into the world that was still barren.

They drove through the land and up a tall hill. When they were on the top, the Autobots let the humans out and they transformed.

"So, what are doing here?" Jack asked.

"This is the best view of Iacon city on the face of Cybertron." Smokescreen explained.

"And we wanted you all to see our home the way it was meant to be seen." Arcee finished.

The humans walked to the edge of the hill and gasped in awe as they saw the Cybertron capital.

Before, they saw the rising suns coming up behind the buildings and they shone like stars. However, now, at the angle from which they were seeing the sight, it looked as though the building were a vast group of crystals that formed together to make a massive crystallized rainbow.

"That's awesome." Miko whispered.

"Yeah. We call it the Iacon Illusion. From up here the city looks, well, like that." Chromia explained.

"It's incredible." Jack said.

"Yeah, this brings back so many good memories." Elita spoke quietly to herself from the back of the group as she took out the camera she got from her old house.

"Hey Elita. What are you doing?" Arcee asked. "What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, this is an old object of mine that I found in my old dwellings." Elita answered.

"What is it?" Arcee wondered.

"An old recording camera that I carried around as a child. It holds many memories of my childhood." Elita continued.

"Really? Can we some of them?" Miko asked as she appeared from behind Arcee's pede.

"Oh, well, er, I suppose it couldn't do any harm in showing you." Elita decided.

She sat down as the rest of Team Prime gathered around. Elita took out the camera and turned it on.

She looked through the files and let the picture files come up on the holographic screen.

Many of them were of scenery and rather meagre things, while others were of Cybertronian younglings. Some were different from time to time but several remained the same throughout. Elita stopped on a particular picture of all six of those younglings together, smiling at the camera.

There were two unfamiliar younglings in the picture. One was a femme. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look unhappy. She had a purple helm, leg and arm plates, with maroon stripes along them and a maroon chest.

The other was a mech. His legs and arms were a light orange, while his helm and chassis were blue. He was smiling widely and had his arm around the femme next to him. His bright blue optics shone with fierce mischief.

The youngling femme, she was coloured various shades of blue. She held the smaller pink femme close. Though they were smaller and their faces were slightly different, it was clear to the members of Team Prime that they were the Sisters Chromia and Elita One.

"Woah! Is that you?" Smokescreen exclaimed.

"Indeed. They are us." Elita confirmed.

"Hm, you seem awfully small here Elita." Bulkhead noted.

"Heh, yeah. I was quite the shrimp as they say." Elita agreed.

"Wow. So who are those two?" Bumblebee asked, pointing to the two unknown younglings.

"Oh, that femme is a friend of ours. We called her Sharpshot." Chromia answered. SHe paused before continuing on with the mech. "And that is...Dion."

"And what about the other two?" Wheeljack wondered.

The other two younglings were both mechs. One was a tall, silver, armoured mech. He was far larger than any other youngling in the picture as he towered over the others at the back of the picture. His blue optics shone with a mischief that rivalled that of Dion. He was using his arm to lean on the helm of the last mech in the picture.

That mech was rather short. His helm and legs were navy blue and his arms and chassis were red. He was smiling the widest out of all of the younglings in the picture.

"Oh, them? Haha. Yeah I guess you lot wouldn't recognize them like that huh." Chromia commented.

"Why? Who are they?" Miko wondered.

"Orion Pax and Megatronus." Elita answered. "Optimus Prime and Megatron before...before."

Team Prime looked at the Sisters and then back at the picture. Then back and back again.

"So...wait. Optimus and Megatron. Optimus and Megatron? Them two? Those two? But they look so...so...so..." Smokescreen stammered.

"Young." Bumblebee finished.

"Yes. Indeed they are. Indeed we are. That picture was taken when we were all living together." Elita said.

After a shocked moment of silence the surrounding people all exclaimed together:

"WHEN YOU WHAT?"

"Oh, I suppose that was rather blunt." Elita said.

Before anyone else could say anything, Ultra Magnus contacted them with a comm.

[Team Prime. There was a lone sparkling spotted by a lone youngling at a location only a few clicks from your position. If you would, please bring that sparkling to the city.]

"Of course Magnus." Elita replied. "Now, I think we can postpone the rest of this conversation as we go bring home a new sparkling. Shall we?"

"Yeah, I guess." Arcee said. "You kids coming?"

"Yeah of course." Jack agreed.

"Let's go then." Chromia proclaimed.

* * *

**Wow, this ended up being so much longer than I intended.**

**Let me know what you think. Comment and review.**


	3. Younglings and Sparklings

Team Prime with their human charges within them drove through the barren wasteland to the coordinates Ultra Magnus provided.

According to him, there they would find a lost youngling and a lone sparkling.

They continued their drive and the humans looked around at their new surroundings.

"It's so different from the city." Jack commented.

"Yeah, but it'll be restored eventually. You can be sure of that." Arcee vowed to him.

"How much farther to the coordinates?" Wheeljack asked.

"Not long. In fact, we should be there...now!" Chromia proclaimed.

The femme stopped and transformed. When their human friends were out of from within them, the rest of Team Prime transformed as well.

"Okay, so we're looking for a youngling and sparkling." Smokescreen said.

"Yes. So we'd better get to it." Elita replied.

The team split up and walked around the area looking for both young sparks.

"If anyone finds them, comm. the rest of us immediately." Elita ordered.

* * *

"What would a youngling and sparkling be doing out here all alone?" Raf wondered.

"Well, apparently the youngling wandered away from his group. The sparkling on the other hand isn't all that surprising." Bumblebee answered.

"What do you mean?" Raf asked.

"Well, the sparks that came flying out the Well spread out all around the planet. There are over a hundred sparklings and younglings in Iacon, but from the amount of sparks that we saw flowing out of the Well, there are clearly many more than that all around Cybertron just waiting to be found." Bumblebee explained.

"Really?" Raf said. "So you guys just go around the planet looking for sparklings and younglings?"

Bumblebee shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. There are dozens of search ships patrolling the skies in search both returning refugees and new sparks."

Raf nodded in understanding and the two continued their search.

* * *

"So what would a sparkling look like?" Miko asked Bulkhead.

"Huh? Well, you know. Small...Cybertronians." Bulkhead replied.

"Hmm, okay. I just thought that there might be some defining trait that they would have." Miko spoke.

* * *

Elita walked around some more before she heard a young voice from behind her.

"Help! Help!" The young mech was exclaiming. He was red with orange and yellow flames across his body and he was running aimlessly around the barren land.

"Hey wait sweet spark!" Elita said. [Hey everyone, I found the youngling.]

"Oh!" The young mech spoke. "Can you help me? I'm lost."

"Of course sweet spark. What's your designation?" Elita asked.

"Hot Rod ma'am. I'm from Prowl's group." He explained.

Elita knelt down to his level.

"Now what are you doing all the way out here Hot Rod?" Elita asked softly.

Hot Rod shifted his pedes.

"Well, um, well...will I get in trouble miss?" Hot Rod stammered.

Elita looked down Hot Rod sternly.

"I don't know unless you tell me." Elita replied. "Why are you out here?"

"Well, I was playing with my big brother, Hot Shot, and uh, he dared me to go out of the city and bring back a raw Energon crystal from the outside." He answered.

Elita sighed disappointedly.

"Am I in trouble miss?" Hot Rod asked.

Elita shook her helm.

"No dear you're not. However, your brother most definitely will." Elita told him.

Hot Rod nodded towards the ground.

"Hot Rod, you used your group comm. to call to help correct?" Elita spoke.

Hot Rod nodded.

"When you called, you also said that you found a sparkling."

Hot Rod nodded again.

"Can you take me to it?"

Hot Rod gave her a smile, nodded once more, and turning around.

"Come miss! This way!" Hot Rod said as he went running in the opposite direction.

Elita followed him closely as he went running. They came across a cave and Hot Rod went inside.

"Here it is miss." Hot Rod proclaimed.

Elita walked next to him to see what was indeed a youngling. It was small, the armour was thin and its large eyes were closed shut. It seemed to have been holding itself and crying out.

Elita bent down and put her servo over it.

"Elita!" Arcee called from the entrance of the cave.

The rest of Team Prime had arrived.

"Have you found the sparkling as well?" Chromia asked.

"Indeed, however, I am afraid that we may have come too late. It would appear that the sparkling is offline." Elita replied sadly. "Hot Rod, was the sparkling like this when you first found it?"

"Erm, well sort of yeah. It was lying there, but its optics were open. It wasn't moving though." Hot Rod answered.

"Elita, look at it." Bumblebee pointed out. "It has a tail."

The others around the site looked down at the dead sparkling and saw that it indeed had a tail. It also had tiny claws and jagged denta. Upon even closer inspection, there was a golden emblem on it's shoulders.

"It's a Predacon sparkling." Bulkhead concluded.

"Indeed it is." A booming voice spoke from behind them.

Team Prime spun around in shock as they heard Predaking land and speak. Hot Rod quickly dodged and hid behind Elita's leg.

"Predaking!" Wheeljack exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for the sparkling, same as you it would seem." Predaking replied as he bent down and entered the cave.

He pushed past the Autobots and looked down at the dead sparkling. He picked up the corpse and turned to leave the cave.

"Hey! Predaking!" Bumblebee called. "How did you know that there would be a Predacon sparkling here?"

"Because ever since the sparks have been flying from the Well, Shockwave has been given a multitude of new sparks to experiment with. He has been attempting to make new Predacons. Younger ones in fact. However, according to him it would seem that a Predacon's body cannot house a new Cybertronian spark." Predaking as he held the sparkling sadly.

"Shockwave? Where is he?" Elita asked.

"His laboratory is beneath this cave. He's been experimenting with the Predacon sparklings there. This one remained alive longer than the others. He even had the strength to make his way out of the lab he was created in. We all thought that Shockwave had finally done it but unfortunately, the sparkling doesn't seem to be able to survive on its own." Predaking answered.

"Can you take us to him?" Elita requested.

"There is no need."

From a passage that opened up from beneath the cave Shockwave came walking calmly up the steps.

"I see that the sparkling perished." Shockwave spoke.

"Indeed it did. Right above your lab. Right above your head." Chromia hissed.

"Yes. While this is quite the unfortunate outcome, however, I am afraid that I was quite distracted by the discovery I made down within my laboratory." Shockwave replied. "Skylynx and Darksteel are already down there working on excavating it."

Predaking growled. "How did you get them to do what you ask? They do not answer to you anymore."

"Well, they aren't very bright. Thus, it was very easy to convince them that what I found may hold the secret to making Predacon sparklings." Shockwave answered.

"Is it?" Predaking asked.

"No, but it does emanate a strong energy signal similar to that of the Matrix of Leadership, or at the very least that of a Prime." Shockwave explained.

"Bring us to it." Elita ordered.

Shockwave nodded. "Very well."

The Autobots followed Shockwave down the passage to his laboratory. The children and Hot Rod were about to follow when Bulkhead held his servo out at them.

"No. It might be dangerous. Kids, keep an eye on Hot Rod here. Make sure he stays here. Boys, make sure Miko stays here." Bulkhead ordered.

"Will do." The kids replied.

Bulkhead nodded and proceeded down the steps.

* * *

The lab was similar to the one that they blew up back on Earth.

The yellow light emanating from the large tubes from which Shockwave would grow new Predacons.

At the far back of it all, Darksteel and Skylynx were clawing away at a wall. They had uncovered what looked like a large, dark metal box with ancient symbols carved within it.

"Skylynx! Darksteel! What are you doing?" Predaking demanded.

The two younger Predacons spun around in surprise when they heard the voice of their king.

"Your majesty!" Darksteel exclaimed.

"We were helping Shockwave excavate this...thing. He says that it could help him create more Predacon sparklings." Skylynx explained.

"Fools! He tricked you!" Predaking said.

"What?" The two exclaimed. "You did?"

Shockwave walked past them to inspect their work.

"Of course I did. I doubt I would have gotten half this far without you two." Shockwave replied.

The Predacons growled.

"How dare you!" Skylynx shouted.

"Nonetheless. Whatever is here is something incredibly ancient and powerful." Shockwave interrupted.

"Oh really? How do you figure?" Smokescreen asked.

"The inscriptions written here. Writing like these haven't been seen since the Age of Primes." Shockwave answered. "I cannot read it all but I can make out the last few words: All must beware the Trickster."

"All must beware the Trickster? What does that mean?" Bumblebee wondered.

The others shrugged while Shockwave was moving his servos over the surface.

"Hey, be careful with that. We don't know what it can do." Wheeljack said.

"Hmm...the box seems to have been breached." He spoke. "There are several cracks here."

Shockwave ran his digits along the cracks and lines on the box. Within a few seconds, the cracks lit up with a bright white light. Shockwave stepped back in surprise right before the part of the box facing them blew open.

The Cybertronians took cover far from the explosion. When some of the smoke died down, they reemerged from their shielding.

"What was that?" Bulkhead asked.

The group walked up to the rubble and looked inside of the empty box.

"It looks like whatever was in there got out." Arcee commented.

"Yeah no kidding." An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind the group.

The group spun around to see a young mech stretching behind them.

He was black and navy blue with bright blue optics. He was slightly taller than Bulkhead.

"Who the frag are you?" Wheeljack demanded.

The mech continued his stretching as he spoke.

"Well, I go by so many names. Some of them better than others. But, I usually go by...pause for effect...the Trickster." He proclaimed.

"Who?" Arcee asked.

The Trickster's arms dropped to his side.

"What? You don't know who I am? I mean, how long has it been? 30 or 40 million years? Come on." He said disappointedly. "You know, what is the point of having great power at your fingertips if no one even knows who you are, or what you can do. Honestly."

"Again who are you?" Smokescreen asked.

"Ah, don't worry about that for now. After all you freed me! Now I get to reward you!" The Trickster proclaimed.

"Reward us?" Predaking asked.

"Indeed. Now, what shall I give you lot?" The Trickster wondered to himself.

"We want to know who you are." Chromia demanded.

"Oh! I know! The one thing everyone is sure to want! Youth!" Trickster exclaimed. His blue optics momentarily turned stark white as he gave the group a smirk.

"And I know just how to make this fun."

No one barely had any time to say anything as the Trickster held out his servo and encased the group in a bright white light.

* * *

**Relax Secret! Next chapter! Now who is this Trickster? **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	4. Kids Again

The group groaned as they got up.

"What happened?" Smokescreen asked no one in particular. Then the young Elite Guardsman paused when he heard the voice coming out of his mouth. It was...a lot higher than it should have been.

Smokescreen lifted himself off of the ground and saw that the ground seemed a lot closer than it normally was. He looked down at his pedes and saw that they looked different. They no longer had his usual dark colour or what little, but thick armour was put over them. Now, they were a light white, with thin metal plating over them. What was going on?

"Hey guys. Do I look...holy frag." Smokescreen had lifted his helm to ask the others around him what he looked like, but he didn't see the other members of Team Prime, or the mighty Predacons or Shockwave. No. The beings he saw around him were other younglings.

Smokescreen's jaw dropped.

"What? Where did everyone go?" Smokescreen demanded.

"Huh? Smokescreen is that you? We're right here. Woah." A young, bulky green mechling spoke before putting his servo to his throat when he heard the higher voice coming out of him.

"Woah. When did everything get so tall?" A white youngling with red and green stripes asked as he too sat up.

"Wha'?" A shorter yellow and black mechling with large and round bright blue optics mumbled as he got up.

"Oh my Primus." A blue and pink youngling femme whispered. Much to the chagrin of the boys around her, saw that she was slightly taller than some of them.

"You can say that again." Another femme spoke from afar. The other younglings turned to see the two femmes they saw in the picture Elita One had showed them earlier.

"Elita? Chromia? Is that you?" Smokescreen asked incredulously.

The blue femme nodded.

"Yeah." She said looking at her servos. "What happened to us? Elita? Do you see this?"

"No." A very high, and tiny voice replied.

"What do you mean?" The yellow and black mechling that must have been Bumblebee asked.

"I mean I can't." Elita replied. She turned around with her servos on her face and the group saw that her optics were dull and almost a greyish colour. "I can't see."

The others gasped.

"What do you mean you can't see?" The young Wheeljack demanded.

"I mean that I can't see. Anything. It would seem that I'm blind." Elita replied calmly.

"What?" The group exclaimed.

"Huh. Did I really blind you? Well, sorry about that." The Trickster spoke as he appeared from behind the group once again.

"No, I don't think that the problem—wait." Elita replied. Then she got up and pushed the Trickster angrily. Unfortunately with her small stature against the Trickster's now larger frame, the push did nothing and was just downright cute.

"So you did this?" She demanded.

The Trickster smirked.

"Oh well yeah." The Trickster replied proudly.

"What? Why?" Wheeljack demanded.

"Because you freed me." The Trickster replied. "Everyone wants youth right? So I put you guys into your child frames. You're blind because you were blind as a child am I right?"

Elita nodded.

"Wait, our child frames...then that means that Arcee was naturally taller than us?" Wheeljack exclaimed.

Arcee smirked. "I guess so. Maybe this isn't all bad after all."

"Are you kidding me?" Bulkhead groaned.

Arcee smiled wider as she winked at them.

"Yeah see kids? No harm done." The Trickster said.

"No harm done? Are you fragging kidding me?" Wheeljack exclaimed.

"Yeah! I'm a runt!" Bulkhead shouted.

"Hey, where'd Shockwave and the Predacons go?" Bumblebee wondered.

"Over there." The Trickster pointed away from the group towards a stack of Energon cubes.

The now younglings ran over to the cubes and saw a young, dark purple mech crouching down with his back towards them.

"Hey Shockwave. Is that...you?" Bulkhead asked as the mechling turned around to face them.

The mech that faced them now...there was no way that it could have been Shockwave. The emotionless Decepticon Chief Scientist, the cyclops that never blinked, the mech without a face rivalled only by Soundwave.

The little youngling most definitely had a face. It was actually quite cute in fact. His two large, round blue optics looked at them while the seven small audial finials from behind his slightly angular helm perked up when he noticed the other younglings come up behind him.

"Yes. It is indeed me. Shockwave." The younglings spoke. His voice was high but he spoke with no emotion, going along perfectly with the emotionless expression he was looking at them with.

"Wha'? No way." Smokescreen retorted.

The mech who claimed to be Shockwave nodded.

"Yes way."

"No. Fragging. Way." Smokescreen repeated with more emphasis. "Your face looks kinda sweet and soft as a sparkling's aft."

"...huh?" Shockwave mumbled.

"Shut up Smokescreen. Enough of that for now." Chromia interrupted the two mechs. "Shockwave. Do you know where the Predacons are?"

Shockwave shook his helm from the surprise of Smokescreen's words and nodded at Chromia. "I believe that they're right here in front of me."

The group leaned over Shockwave's shoulder to see his no longer clawed or half cannon servos on top of three piles of jagged bones on the ground.

Chromia turned to face the Trickster, who had been watching the scene unfold from a distance.

"What did you to them? Did you kill them?" Chromia demanded.

"Nah, my spell was meant to put you lot back into your youngling frames or bodies. Those guys didn't have youngling frames since they were grown in test tubes, so my spell turned them back into the bones from which they were made. Closest thing to their youngling bodies y'know." The Trickster explained.

"They had better be alive you piece of slagging-"

The Trickster waved the threat from he femme away.

"Don't worry. They're fine." The Trickster interrupted.

"Why...why have you done this? Who are you?" Elita asked.

The Trickster smirked and bowed to the younglings.

"Greetings Autobots. I am the Trickster. I was created all those years ago by Nexus Prime himself. I was meant to be his assistant and aid him in whatever or other, but I didn't want to blah blah blah. Listen, it all comes down to Nexus using his power to entrap me in this box here for several million years." The Trickster explained.

"Why?" Smokescreen wondered.

The Trickster shrugged innocently.

"I honestly have no clue myself. I mean, well, it might have a tiny bit to do with the fact that I destroyed a couple moons and several asteroids and planets in another galaxy and then made a black hole to try to hide it...but other than that I honestly haven't the slightest clue. I mean come on! Who hasn't destroyed part of a solar system in their lifetime?"

Team Prime stared at the mech incredulously.

"What? Oh, don't worry I won't do it again. I've had some time to think things over and I swear not to destroy anything like that ever again."

The youngling Autobots sighed in slight relief.

"...not anything on that scale anyways."

"Okay, so why did you turn us into younglings?" Bumblebee demanded.

"Because I have been locked up in a box for the last 30 to 40 million years. I haven't seen light nor had any real fun in all of that time. I swear, if it wasn't for amazing ability to cope, I would have surely gone mad in there." The Trickster answered casually.

The younglings didn't say anything to the Trickster, but they were all thinking the very same thing.

I'm pretty sure you have.

"Okay you know what Trickster? I couldn't give any less of a flying frag about your life story. Just turn us back!" Arcee demanded.

"Eh...nah I don't think so." The Trickster replied.

Arcee looked ready to run over and attempt to strangle the apparent deity, but Elita held her back.

"Why not?" Elita asked.

"Because this could easily be the most fun I've had in eons. Watching you guys run around in youngling frames with your adult minds in tact? It's hilarious." The Trickster replied.

Now Elita looked ready to strangle him.

"But but...if you want to turn back, then all you have to do is drink some Energon-"

The younglings ran towards the pile of Energon cubes nearby.

"-mixed with a few extra ingredients. Of my choosing of course." The Trickster finished.

The younglings groaned disappointedly.

"What?" Arcee groaned.

The Trickster thought for a moment before snapping his digits and a glowing piece of paper appeared in his servos. He handed it to Shockwave.

"Tangle Rootzen. Oronan seed. The Juice from Leaves of the Jungle Planet? All of these are off world." Shockwave spoke.

"Indeed. And that's not even all of it. When you obtain the first few I will allow the next bit to appear until you have all of the ingredients." The Trickster explained.

"You are totally screwing with us." Bulkhead retorted.

The Trickster shook his helm with a smile.

"Nope. Not at all." He replied. Then he turned towards Chromia and Elita.

"This little adventure I made sound familiar you two?" The Trickster asked. From the the narrowing of Chromia's optics, it seemed like the answer was yes.

"I based it off of your original adventure after all." The Trickster continued.

"Chromia, Elita, what's he talking about?" Arcee asked.

"Something we'll explain later." Chromia replied.

"Oh, a few other rules to this game. First, you all have to go together. All of the adults turned into younglings have to come with, and, if one of you dies during the expedition, then you guys are stuck in adolescence. You'll have to grow up all over again." The Trickster concluded. The Trickster flicked his wrist once again and a smaller version of the box he had been trapped in appeared in Chromia's servos.

"I'll be tagging along as well to monitor your process." The Trickster explained.

"Uh, why the box though?" Chromia wondered. "Haven't you been locked in a box this whole time?"

"Yeah, but when you spend all of your time in one place for an extended amount of time, you get accustomed to it." The Trickster answered. "Good luck in all of your endeavours kids."

Then the Trickster snapped his digits, and he turned into a beam of light that disappeared into the box in Chromia's servos.

"So...what now?" Smokescreen wondered.

"Well, I suppose that we're going on an adventure."

* * *

**...I'm not very good at "funny".**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	5. Questions and Answers

Shockwave had put what remained of his Predacons in three separate test tubes, and hung them around his waist.

Since the Trickster said that all of them had to go on this adventure together, then Shockwave would have to accompany them back to Iacon in order for them to get a ship to leave the planet on. The things Team Prime were most worried about was the Council believing their story and allowing one of their most wanted Decepticons to the leave the planet. More specifically Red Alert.

"I am ready." Shockwave announced as he walked up to them.

"Okay, you'd better stay close. Iacon may look a little different from what you may remember." Chromia said.

Shockwave nodded.

The younglings walked up the steps to the exit of Shockwave's lab. Smokescreen, who was in the lead, stopped as he put his servo on the exit panel.

"Smokescreen. What's wrong?" Arcee asked.

"I just realized. We're gonna have to explain this to the kids right away." Smokescreen answered.

After a moment of stunned silence, the youngling Autobots groaned.

* * *

Their Autobot guardians had just disappeared within the folds of the panel, and just as it was about to close, Miko made a break towards it.

"Miko!" Jack exclaimed.

She was about to reach it too, but not knowing what other options he had, Jack jumped forward and tackled the girl just as the entrance closed.

"Aww man! Oh come on Jack! I almost had that!" Miko groaned.

"I know." He replied as he rose from the ground.

Miko sat up and crossed her arms angrily.

"Kiss-aft killjoy."

"Suicidal freak."

"Hey guys. Don't talk like that around the youngling." Raf interrupted.

The two older humans looked up at Hot Rod. While he was no where near the size of the full grown mech like say Bulkhead or Wheeljack, he could still easily tower over a full grown human male. The youngling looked to be around the height of a small truck.

His bright optics were focused on the small beings.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Miko, I had thought that you would've learned you lesson by now." Jack continued.

"Meh." Miko mumbled.

"Um...you are, humans." Hot Rod spoke quietly.

"Hmm? Yeah we are." Jack answered.

With that, Hot Rod's face lit up.

"Wow. My group has heard about you, and Prowl always said that humans were small, but I never knew that you would be that small." Hot Rod continued. He bit his thumb before continuing.

"Um...you're all kinda cute looking." He whispered.

The three humans looked up at the youngling Cybertronian in slight shock. He was looking back at them in embarrassment. Then Miko began laughing.

"Haha! Aww, you are so kawaii!" She exclaimed happily.

"Huh?" Hot Rod wondered.

"Cute! You are so cute Hot Rod!" Miko explained.

"I am?"

"Of course!"

Hot Rod smiled.

"Thank you miss...uh."

"Miko."

"Miko." Hot Rod repeated. He looked towards the two boys. "And who are you?"

"I'm Jack."

"And I'm Raf."

"Those are weird sounding names. Ah but, it's very nice to meet you Mister Jack Mister Raf and Miss Miko."

"It's very nice to meet you too Hot Rod. By the way, Cybertronian names sound very weird to humans." Raf replied.

"Really? Why? They're normal sounding." Hot Rod spoke.

Raf looked as though he were going to try to explain something to the youngling, but he apparently decided against it.

"Yeah, okay Hot Rod. Whatever you say." Raf agreed.

"Um, can I ask a question?" Hot Rod asked.

"Sure." Miko replied.

"Did you really help the Autobots defeat the Decepticons on Earth?" He wondered.

"Well, yeah-" Jack began.

"Well yeah?" Miko interrupted. "Well hell yeah!"

"Miko!" Raf hissed with a glance at Hot Rod.

Miko nodded before continuing.

"Yes Hot Rod we did help the Autobots. We did a whole lot of stuff. We even saved their lives once. In fact, we also saved the lives of the Decepticons too." Miko continued.

"Wha'? Really? How? When?" Hot Rod demanded.

Miko smirked and explained about the time when the Nemesis became alive and put all Cybertronians of both factions into stasis lock, and that it was up to them, the humans, to save them and most likely the world.

Both Jack and Raf had to interrupt to either explain words or phrases to the youngling, who for most of Miko's story was staring at her cluelessly. They also had to interrupt her for her very recollection of the time, for she had soon begun to spun it into a wild tale of danger and great adventure in which the great and powerful Miko Nakadai faced off against aliens within its very body with her two loyal friends Jack and Raf.

When they were finally done and were sure that Hot Rod had the whole and true story, they looked back up him.

"So, what do you think?" Miko finished.

"That must have been so awesome!" Hot Rod exclaimed. "And scary!"

"It was." Jack replied.

"Um...can I ask you another question?" Hot Rod requested.

Jack nodded. "Sure. You can ask as many questions as you like Hot Rod."

Hot Rod smiled even wider as his pedes began to lift off of from the ground.

Then the youngling unleashed a slew of questions upon the human children that rivalled that of Miko's capabilities. They varied from their home planet to their opinion of Cybertron, from their own personal lives to their lives with the Autobots. The younglings was relentless. Thus, that was what they did for the span of time their guardians were in Shockwave's lab.

Then, their last question was interrupted by the entrance panel sliding open.

They were expecting their Autobots guardians to emerge from the lab, but that was not the case. From the panel, up came several Cybertronian younglings.

"Huh? Where'd the Bots go?" Miko wondered.

The young, bulky green mech stepped forward.

"Hey Miko." He spoke. "It's us."

The kids stared up at the younglings incredulously.

"What?" Jack finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence between everyone.

"Uh, yeah. It's us, Team Prime...oh and Shockwave." Arcee replied, pointing to the violet mechling behind her.

"What? What happened to you guys?" Miko demanded.

"Me!" An excited voice proclaimed from somewhere.

The box in Chromia's servos blew open and the Trickster appeared before them once again.

"What's up kiddies? I'm the Trickster! I put a spell on your friends here and now they have to go on an adventure to get their adult bodies back!" The Trickster exclaimed.

The kids stared at the deity.

"Huh?" Raf wondered.

The Trickster bent down and inspected the humans more closely. Then his optics lit up a bright white once more before he stood up.

"Hmm...these are your human friends aren't they?" The Trickster asked the Autobots.

"Yeah, and Trickster if you do anything to them I swear upon Primus' holy spark I will crush yours." Wheeljack vowed.

The Trickster waved the threat aside.

"Yeah yeah yeah I get it. Fine then. I'm out." And with that the Trickster disappeared back within his box.

"...so wait, why'd he turn you guys into kids again?" Miko wondered.

The Autobot younglings sighed and did their best to explain their situation. How they accidentally released the Trickster from his prison, the 'adventure' he was forcing them on and the rules to it.

"That sounds...er, incredibly thought out." Raf commented as they finished explaining the rules to the Trickster's game.

"Yeah, I know. It's stupid but he says he won't let us turn back until we go on this adventure." Bumblebee confirmed.

"So are ya? I mean, you guys have to go on this adventure right?" Miko piped up excitedly.

"Well, yeah. Like you said Miko, we don't have much of a choice." Bulkhead replied.

"But first, we have to get back to Iacon. To get a ship, and bring the real youngling back where he belongs." Elita spoke.

"Yeah, let's go then." Chromia agreed as they began walking towards the exit of the cave.

"Hey everyone." Shockwave spoke up.

"What is it Shockwave?" Smokescreen asked.

"If we are as young as I think we are, then we will have to walk all the way back to Iacon." Shockwave explained.

The Autobots stared at him incredulously before closing their optics tightly in concentration, and then groaning.

"By the Allspark you're right!" Chromia complained.

"Huh? What do you mean? You guys can't transform?" Jack asked.

Arcee shook her helm sadly.

"No. These frames are too young. Our bodies can't handle the stress of transformation." Arcee explained.

"Aww great. So what now?" Miko complained.

"Well...we walk."

* * *

**And off walking they go!**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	6. Back to Iacon!

"Are we there yet?" Smokescreen whined.

"No." Chromia replied.

"...are we there yet?" Smokescreen repeated.

"No." Arcee answered.

"...are we there ye-"

"NO!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Shut up Smokescreen! When we get there we'll let you know!" Wheeljack exclaimed.

Smokescreen merely groaned and continued to drag his pedes forward pathetically.

"Come on! Keep your chin up Smokescreen! I'm sure we're almost there!" Miko told him, who was sitting up on Bulkhead's shoulder.

"Easy for you guys to say! You're not walking! None of the real kids are walking!" Smokescreen complained pointing to Hot Rod who had actually fallen into recharge on Wheeljack's back.

"Yeah well, they wouldn't be able to keep up anyways." Chromia replied.

"How do you know?" Miko demanded.

"Oh, did you wanna get down from there and see?" Chromia challenged.

"Pfft...no." Miko replied.

Chromia smirked. "I thought as much, now pipe down and sit back."

"Chromia." Elita spoke. "How long do you think we're gonna be stuck like this?"

"Either until we meet the Trickster's demands, or he fragging turns us back already!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

"Yeah...I can only imagine how Magnus'll react to this." Smokescreen replied.

The younglings continued their walk for another 45 minutes before the shining city was mere steps away.

"Ah! Home sweet home!" Smokescreen groaned as he fell to his knees and ventilated heavily.

"It...has FOREVER since we've seen you dearest Iacon!" Smokescreen continued.

"Smokescreen shut up. You're makin' a scene." Bulkhead groaned as he too collapsed onto his aft.

"I couldn't care less right now. I'm tired as frag!" Smokescreen exclaimed, causing several people to turn their helms at them.

"Smokescreen! Watch yourself! There are younglings around!" Chromia hissed.

"Sorry." Smokescreen replied.

"Now come on get up. We have to get Hot Rod back to his group and then get to the council building." Chromia spoke.

"Gimme like...two seconds." Smokescreen requested.

"One...two. Let's go!" Chromia exclaimed as she took hold of one of Smokescreen's doorwings and began dragging his aft along the street.

"Hey! Hey Chromia! Lemme go!" Smokescreen shouted.

"You'd better walk then." Chromia threatened.

"Yeah yeah I will sheesh." Smokescreen replied.

"Jeez. Chromia's actin' like she's our carrier." Bulkhead commented.

"Yeah, she was a lot like that when we were growing up. She was always looking after us since we lived together with no adult supervision, and making sure to bust our afts if we did anything out of line." Elita replied. "Motherly."

"More like bossy if you ask me." Wheeljack spoke.

Elita shrugged as Chromia clapped her servos together.

"Come on guys. We'd better get going." Chromia proclaimed as she turned around and continued to walk on.

* * *

They had found Hot Rod's youngling group and returned him to them. Elita was also sure to give Hot Shot a very loud berating for what he made his brother do. However, it looked quite odd, since now she stood several heads below the youngling.

"What kind of brother are you?" She demanded.

"Why? It was just a joke. He didn't have to go." Hot Shot replied.

"But he went and you didn't stop him!" Elita continued.

"Oh yeah? Well what were you doing out there?" Hot Shot retorted.

"I was sent out to look for him!" Elita answered.

"You're just a youngling like me!" Hot Shot replied.

Elita scowled and stomped her pede on the ground.

"That doesn't matter. You're gonna get in trouble Hot Shot!" Elita shouted.

"So what? What are you gonna do about it?" Hot Shot challenged.

"I'm gonna tell Prowl." Elita concluded as she turned her back to the youngling and began walking off with the other members of Team Prime.

Hot Shot stood there for a few moments he gasped.

"W-wait! Don't go doin' something like that!" He shouted, but it was to no one, as the younglings of Team Prime had already left.

The younglings continued their walk through Iacon until they came to the council building.

"C'mon. We're like, halfway there already." Arcee proclaimed encouragingly.

They walked into the large halls and were quite surprised to find that no one was in the halls.

"Where is everyone?" Bumblebee wondered.

His companions all shrugged as they continued on to the council meeting room. They were surprised to find that all of the councilmen were there, and they were all crowding around the spot where Ultra Magnus should have been sitting.

"Um...councilmen?" Chromia spoke as they entered the room.

Prowl turned around to face them.

"What are you younglings doing here?" He asked in an uncharacteristically frantic manner. "All of you had better go back to your groups now."

"Uh hah, yeah, see, we can't." Wheeljack said.

"Why not?" Prowl asked.

Elita stepped forward.

"Prowl...it's us. The members of Team Prime." Elita spoke.

Prowl blinked several times before taking a small step back.

"So, this...whatever it is, happened to you lot as well?" Prowl gasped incredulously.

"Wait...what do you mean by "as well"?" Chromia questioned.

Prowl motioned towards the group of younglings to follow him, and he opened a path through his fellow councilmen so they could see what he was talking about.

They squeezed themselves through and there was a collective gasp when they saw a fairly tall light blue and red mechling sitting in the Head Councilman's chair. His large shoulder plating was practically nonexistent and no longer towered over the other Autobots, however, it didn't take much to figure out who this youngling was. His large round optics were wide with shock as he looked up at the taller mechs surrounding him.

"Wha-Ultra Magnus. Is that you?" Bulkhead asked.

The youngling in the seat looked towards Bulkhead. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't seem to find the words, so instead he merely nodded.

Team Prime was quite taken aback at the commander's reaction to his transformation. They had never seen him at a loss for words like he was now.

They were about to continue speaking before the doors behind the group of younglings and adults alike flew open and slammed against the walls beside them.

It was a bright, and shining red youngling that stood in the doorway. He looked absolutely terrified, and frantic.

"What the frag just happened?"

* * *

**Well look who else just joined the party! **

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


	7. To the Council

Ever since the war ended, Knockout proclaimed that he had decided to join the winning team, and he had done just that. He had become one of the heads of the Science and Medical Division of the council, and he had been working closely with Magnus and the council ever since. When the humans came by he was most likely in his lab, thus, it came as a complete and total shock when the members of Team Prime returned to see both Magnus and Knockout turned into younglings as they were.

"What? Knockout too?" Bumblebee exclaimed.

Knockout stomped over to the other younglings.

"Wait, is that you guys?" He asked.

Bumblebee nodded.

Knockout sprung forward, took hold of Bumblebee's shoulder and began shaking him wildly.

"WHAT THE FRAG IS GOING ON?" Knockout demanded.

"Woah woah Knockout stop!" Raf screamed as he clung to Bumblebee for dear life.

Bumblebee pried Knockout's servos off of his shoulders and pushed him back.

"You all are gonna have to listen." Bumblebee said.

Jetfire turned to face the now younglings, and then he noticed one more unfamiliar youngling among the bunch.

"Oh, who is this?" He asked.

"Huh, oh aha, this is well...Shockwave." Elita answered.

The rest of the council spun around at the sound of the Decepticon scientist's name. They looked at the violet youngling incredulously.

"Wha'-Shockwave?" Prowl exclaimed.

Shockwave looked up at them and nodded.

"Greetings." He spoke.

It looked as though Red Alert was about to throw himself at the youngling, but Jetfire stepped forward in between the other Autobots and the Decepticon youngling.

"What are you doing here? You do realize that we have to take you into custody now don't you? And where are the Predacons?" Jetfire told him.

Shockwave held up the test tubes around his waist.

"Here they are." He answered calmly. "And you will find that you cannot put me in custody."

"And why would that be?" Red Alert demanded.

"Because we need him." Chromia answered. "Quite the unfortunate circumstances we're in I have to say."

"What circumstances? Will someone explain this already? Please?" Knockout cried.

"Well, we went to investigate the missing youngling and the sparkling sighting like Magnus told us too, then we were met by Predaking and Shockwave. Shockwave took us down to his lab where he was doin'...I dunno, stuff reminiscent of Frankenstein or something." Smokescreen began.

"Huh? Who?" Prowl stammered.

Smokescreen waved him off.

"Human thing. Never mind that." He replied.

"Look, the point is stuff happened down there and we need Shockwave in order to return to our former selves." Arcee finished. "It would also seem like we're also gonna need Ultra Magnus and Knockout to come with."

"Why? What happened there? You aren't explaining anything." Prowl pressed on.

"Well-" Arcee began before the box in Chromia's servos began shaking violently until the Trickster burst out of it, shocking absolutely everyone in the room.

"HEEEELLLLLOOOOOO new council of Cybertron!" The Trickster exclaimed ecstatically.

"I am the Trickster! Hello hello hello hello..." He walked forward and shook every councilman's servo. "I put a curse on these fine beings here so that they would revert to their youngling forms and to return them to normal they must go on an adventure of epic proportions to turn themselves back! Cut them some slack please and give the kids a ship dammit!"

The members of the council stared, dumbfounded, at the mad deity standing before them.

"Who are you?" Prowl asked bluntly.

The Trickster slumped forward in disappointment and covered his optics with his servos.

"Yet another person who doesn't know me. I feel forgotten." He moaned.

"That's because you are forgotten ya relic." Wheeljack retorted.

"SHUT UP!" The Trickster shouted.

Elita pushed both mechs away from each other and stepped forward towards the council.

"I'm sorry about that. If you didn't catch onto the Trickster's ramblings, here's pretty much what happened." She spoke. Elita explained what had happened since Magnus sent them off to find Hot Rod and the youngling.

"So let me get this straight." Ultra Magnus began to speak as it would seem that he began to collect himself from his earlier shock. Due to his short stature, he saw it fit to stand up on the chair he was sitting on. It didn't make an immense difference, but the disciplined air of the firm Autobot commander had returned to him in this small body as he folded his arms and looked out thoughtfully.

"You turned Team Prime, including me, Knockout, and Shockwave into younglings and now you want us to go off on an...adventure to return us to our adult frames?" Ultra Magnus spoke to the Trickster.

"Yep. Pretty much." He confirmed.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Mirage asked.

"'Cause I was bored." The Trickster answered simply.

"And you say that they cannot return to their adult frames unless all adult-turned younglings go along on this endeavour." Prowl continued.

"Adventure." The Trickster pressed. "And yes."

"Just how many of these, ingredients are there Trickster?" Jetfire asked.

The Trickster thought for a moment. Then shrugged, earning a violent attack from Wheeljack and Bulkhead.

"Whaddaya mean you don't know?" Bulkhead demanded as his youngling comrades pulled him and Wheeljack off of the Trickster.

"It's like I said before. I'll add more as you guys go along." He said.

Bulkhead growled.

The Trickster stood back up and smirked.

"There's no use gettin' all angry like that y'know. There isn't anything any of you can do about it so you might as well go along with this. That is of course, unless you wanna grow up all over again." He said.

Team Prime all scowled at him before he chuckled and disappeared within his box.

Arcee turned to the council.

"We need a ship." She said.

Ultra Magnus put his servo to his chin.

"Yes it would seem so." He agreed.

"Sir! Are you really just going to agree to this madman's terms?" Red Alert exclaimed.

"It's not like any of us have any choice Red Alert!" Magnus replied. "Based on Team Prime's accounts the Trickster's power seems very real and from what I just saw now, he is not lying when he says that he's willing to leave us like this. None of us can afford to grow up all over again, especially with Cybertron beginning to be rebuilt. Who will trust a council who has a child-no matter whether or not he has the mind of an adult-to lead their people?"

The rest of the council began to nod and mutter their agreement with Magnus's words.

"Now. We are going to require a ship for this endeavour." He spoke.

"Adventure." Elita corrected him. "It's an adventure. The Trickster modelled this entire scenario after an adventure that happened before."

"Oh? And who's 'adventure' would that be?" Mirage wondered.

Chromia stepped forward and put her servo on her friend's shoulder.

"Ours."

* * *

**So, I finished watching what I believe is the season finale to RID 2015, and to that show, I say: May continuity be DAMNED!...ahem. I mean, I liked it. ._.**

**So yeah. Expect another Before chapter (because I wanna finish that before I finish this) sometime soon hopefully.**

**May I also ask...does anyone like the Trickster so far? I dunno, I was just wondering. I realized I was feeling some serious Mako Mankanshoku vibes going on while I was writing him this chapter.**

**Let me know what you think! Comment and review!**


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